Quality of Sleep in CKD Patients on Chronic Hemodialysis and the Effect of Dialysis Shift

Objective: To determine the frequency of poor sleep quality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on chronic haemodialysis and compare the quality of sleep amongst patients undergoing chronic haemodialysis in morning shift to other shifts (including afternoon, evening and night). Study Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Dialysis Unit, Department of Nephrology, Shifa International Hospital Islamabad, Pakistan, from May to November 2016. Methodology: CKD patients who were dialysis dependant for a minimum of three months between ages of 20 years to 70 years were included. Participants were interviewed using a questionnaire measuring age, gender, time on haemodialysis, duration of each session and shift in which they were dialysed. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Using patient's responses to all questions in the PSQI, sleep quality score for each patient was calculated and they were classified as poor or good sleepers. Results: A total of 113 patients were included. Out of these, 82 patients (72.6%) had poor quality of sleep and 31 (27.4%) patients had good sleep quality. Thirty three out of the 48 morning shift patients had poor sleep quality and 49 out of 65 patients in other shifts had poor sleep quality. This relationship was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The frequency of poor sleep quality amongst CKD patients receiving chronic haemodialysis is high. However, dialysis shift does not seem to have any statistically significant relationship with the occurrence of poor sleep quality in these patients.